A Florida Walmart employee who happens to be both 6’4” and cisgender was followed into the bathroom at work by a man yelling transphobic slurs. Walmart allegedly responded by firing her over a “security risk.”
Until recently, Dani Davis had been working at her local Walmart full-time for over seven years. But on Monday, she posted to Facebook the harrowing story of her encounter with a belligerent transphobe and her subsequent firing.
Related
“I had such a glow-up on HRT that I am now officially an enemy of the state,” trans influencer and teacher Sabre said in her viral TikTok.
Davis began with some background on herself, clarifying that she is cisgender and has always identified as a woman. “In addition to working full-time time at Walmart,” she said, “I am a part-time Seasonal Tax Pro for H&R Block. I’m a certified Notary Public. And it has been my joy and privilege to tutor special-needs children as requested.”
Culture, unfiltered
Our newsletter will bring you the pulse of queer culture, from the tastemakers to the groundbreakers.
On March 14, she went to the bathroom near the end of her shift at Walmart. While alone in the bathroom, a man entered to yell slurs at her. “The voice was much louder than simply someone yelling in from the door,” she explained. “This man was fully IN the restroom, yelling something about ‘tr*nnies’ … and how he was gonna ‘beat all those p*ssies” and “protect his wife/girlfriend from them.’ All the while, his wife/girlfriend was yelling ‘babe get out! Baby you gotta get out of here! Your gonna get in trouble.’”
Afterwards, Davis left the stall, relieved to find that the man was nowhere in the vicinity. She returned to her shift “visibly shaken and emotional” and told her supervisor about the harassment.
A few days later, Davis was fired by higher ups. “The reason they gave for my termination was that I didn’t inform a salaried member of management of the incident and that not doing so posed a security risk,” she explained. “I did immediately inform my immediate supervisor but a team leader is not a salaried member of management.”
“I just…. I don’t understand,” she added. “ I was the one followed into the bathroom and I was the one who felt threatened and unsafe…. so I get fired for it?”
“To me it sounds like they thought I was the security risk,” she speculated. “Because of my height and someone’s ignorance mistaking me for something I’m not, I was now a security risk and they terminated me for it.”
Davis posted the story hoping for advice on what to do next. Most comments expressed sympathy and advised her with some legal avenues to pursue a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Sign up for the INTO newsletter and get your twice-weekly dose of stories that shape the queer experience, culture, and lifestyle.
